Jose points finger at Spurs man after draw

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho blamed Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen for Fernando Torres’ harsh sending-off during the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.

Blues striker Torres was dismissed in the 81st minute after he clashed in the air with Vertonghen – one of a number of times the two players came together in the second half.

Vertonghen appeared to clutch his face following the collision and Torres was shown his second yellow card.

That angered Mourinho, who said the Spurs defender ought to have been sent off against Aston Villa in midweek so should not have even been playing in the London derby.

Mourinho explained: “I don’t think the referee is guilty.

“He made the wrong decision but the referee trusts the player [Vertonghen] and if he sees the player with his hands on his face then he has a tendency to follow him.

“It was a bad decision. It was a situation in which the player was not helping the referee

“Vertonghen is a fantastic player but he is a special guy because three days ago he left an Aston Villa player naked on the pitch – he shouldn’t be playing in this game, he should have been suspended.

“And today, he changed the game, so I’m not happy.”

John Terry’s second-half header earned Chelsea a deserved point and they were in the ascendancy before Torres was dismissed.

Mourinho added: “The game was good. It was good for Tottenham in the first half and not so good for Chelsea, but in the second half we were very, very good.

“With 11 men I think we would have won, but football is football and sometimes things happen and we don’t know why.

“The way the game was going, not one person thought at that time that we were not much, much better and much, much stronger [than Spurs].”

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